National Security Agency whistleblowers Thomas Drake and William Binney will testify before a German parliamentary committee on July 3. They both will give testimony as part of an inquiry into details of NSA surveillance in Germany, which have been revealed through news stories based upon documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The fallout of the Edward Snowden revelations continues, and each succeeding day seems to prove the wisdom of Sir Walter Scott’s poetry. Der Spiegel has been probing the consequences in Germany, one of which is the disruption of Angela Merkel’s annual vacation. Federal elections are just two months away — elections Merkel and her CDU compatriots have been expected to win easily — and she and her party are now playing defense over their relationship with the NSA.

This isn’t just a problem for Merkel and the Germans, but for the US as well, as it tries to engage in the world in diplomacy. The growing problem can be expressed quite easily: what happens the next time a US president goes to a foreign leader and says “We’d like your help with this little project . . .”? The more damage Merkel sustains over PRISM and other US spy projects, the more likely those foreign leaders will say “no thanks.”

Can’t anyone in DC think more than two steps ahead? Maybe if they read more Scottish poetry it would help.